


Holding On

by TheAnxiousAce



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Before and After Kerberos, Established Relationship, First Kiss, Fluff, M/M, Pre-Kerberos Mission, Shiro's kind of a sap, sort of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-23
Updated: 2017-02-23
Packaged: 2018-09-26 11:45:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,549
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9895139
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheAnxiousAce/pseuds/TheAnxiousAce
Summary: Shiro's leaving for Kerberos, but he needs Keith to hold on to something for him. Just until he gets back. And, well, they might not be on Earth anymore, but Keith is good at keeping his promises.





	

“What’s it like?” Keith asked, breaking the silence that had settled between them, tense and unyielding.

“What’s what like?” Shiro responded. 

“Knowing that tomorrow you’ll be on your way to Kerberos.” 

Shiro smiled, just a little, and followed Keith’s gaze up to the moon. They were sitting on the roof of the Garrison under a cloudless sky. There wasn’t much light up here, but the moon was full and cast enough of a glow that they could safely see their surroundings, and each other. The stars spanned overhead, and Shiro could name every constellation if he wanted to. He had before, another time when he and Keith had snuck up to the rooftop, another time they had needed to get away from everything, just for a little while. Keith had groaned when he’d started in, but Shiro had seen the slight smile as he’d pointed out Draco and Cephus, asking Keith which constellation was his favorite, to see if he could find it to show him. 

That had been the first time they’d spent the night under the sky. It became routine after that, and Shiro knew they would both miss it.

“It’s exciting,” he finally admitted. “But also terrifying. Tomorrow I’ll fly to the end of the solar system. There won’t be anyone out there but us. But,” he took his eyes off the moon, turned to Keith, “this will be the farthest anyone’s ever gone. I can’t say I’m not thrilled by it.”

Keith hummed in response and they both fell back into the quiet that had engulfed them earlier. Keith still wasn’t looking at him, and Shiro let his smile drop. Keith didn’t talk much, he’d learned that early on, but they always managed to carry on their conversations before. 

“Hey,” Shiro said, leaning over and bumping his shoulder against Keith’s. “Look at me.” 

Keith slowly lowered his eyes from the moon, blinking the afterimage away before turning to Shiro.

“Are you ok?” 

Keith quirked his lips in an almost-smile, but it fell short at the serious gleam in Shiro’s eyes. He felt a twinge of guilt - this was Shiro’s last night at the Garrison, his last night on Earth. He shouldn’t be dragging him down.

“I’m fine,” Keith said, shaking his head when Shiro went to protest. “I’m just going to miss this, that’s all.”

Shiro grinned again and put an arm around Keith’s shoulders, dragging him closer. 

“I’m going to miss this, too,” he said. “But, look,” he pointed to the moon, then to a path of stars. “You won’t be able to see us, but if you look there, that’s where we’ll be. You can look up and find me, and I can look down and find you.”

Keith snorted and relaxed into Shiro’s side. “You’re a sap, you know that?”

“Yup,” Shiro agreed, smiling wide, “but you’ll still do it.”

“Yeah. I will.” 

Silence fell again, but it was a much lighter sort than before. It was comfort and warmth and solidarity. And out of everything that he’d be missing from Earth, Shiro knew that this would be what he would miss the most - Keith’s presence, warm against his side, just the two of them out under the stars. 

“Hey,” Shiro said, shifting his position a bit. Keith grumbled as he was jostled around, but he didn’t pull away. “Can I give you something? I want you to hold onto it until I come back.” 

Keith looked up at Shiro, the angle awkward since they were so close. 

“What is it?” he asked.

Shiro hesitated, just a moment. He’d thought about this, about saying goodbye, since they’d told him he’d been assigned the Kerberos mission. But he didn’t want to say goodbye, not to Keith. So he’d come up with a promise, instead.

“Come on,” Keith said, wriggling away from him. His lips were pulled down in just the slightest frown. “What is it?”

And Shiro leaned over and kissed him. Just a lingering press of the lips, nothing more. 

But when he went to pull away, Keith brought him back in for more.

 

****

 

Between being flung across the universe, being enlisted into a war, fighting his way through aliens, and learning to pilot a sentient-robot-space-Lion, Keith hadn’t really had a chance to really _see_ Shiro. He’d finally gotten him back, gotten him _home,_ and then the universe laughed in their faces and pulled everything apart. 

So when things finally settled down, everyone off to their beds and the castle lights dimmed to simulate a nighttime level, Keith found himself outside Shiro’s door. 

He wasn’t sure how late it was, wasn’t even sure how he was supposed to tell time in space, but it hadn’t been too long since everyone had dispersed. He hoped Shiro would still be awake, that he hadn’t wasted too much time debating if he should even be here. 

He knocked. Shiro answered. 

“Keith,” Shiro said, voice tight and tired. He kept a good face on, the one he had when he had first woken up on Earth, after Keith and the others had rescued him. Controlled, neutral. It made Keith’s stomach churn. “What are you doing up?”

“Can I come in?” His voice was smaller than he would have liked, shaken by how changed Shiro was. He had noticed it earlier, too. Not just the physical things - the hair, the arm, the scar. The way he held himself was different. His face wasn’t open, his posture too stiff. Shiro was here, but he wasn’t _here._

Shiro stepped aside, letting him in. The door closed behind them. 

Shiro went to the bed and sat down, and Keith felt a little of the tension in him recede. Shiro wasn’t relaxed by any measure - shoulders squared, back straight - but it was the first time he’d seen him sit down since any of this had started. 

Keith sat down next to him, far enough away that he could still feel the distance between them. The distance from Earth to Kerberos to _wherever_ the Galra had taken him. 

“Are you ok?” It was a stupid question, of course he wasn’t, but Keith didn’t know what else to say. 

To his surprise, Shiro actually snorted, the first glimpse of _Shiro_ he’d seen since he’d rescued him from the Garrison. 

“I’d like to think you still remember me well enough to know the answer to that,” Shiro said, voice soft. He still held himself stiff and straight, but his mask folded, just a little, softening around the edges. 

“I do,” Keith responded, clasping his hands together. “I just…” He trailed off, and they sat in silence.

Shiro broke it first, sighing and slumping down, resting his elbows on his legs. He stared down at the floor, and Keith had to hold back the urge to brush the shock of white hair out of his eyes. 

“It’s all so much,” Shiro whispered. “I… I don’t remember much, from when the Galra had me. But I had just gotten back. And now…” He waved his hand vaguely, indicating the room, the ship, the space they were in. 

“I know,” Keith said. He reached over, hand hovering over Shiro’s metal one. He left it there, in the space between them, waiting. 

Shiro looked down at their hands. He flipped his palm up, stretching out the fingers. The arm wasn’t his anymore, not really, but Keith’s hand still fit in it just fine. 

“I know I missed you,” Shiro said, still staring at their joined hands.

“I missed you, too,” Keith replied. “I never believed what they said, you know. Pilot error. I knew you were still out there. I never stopped looking.”

Shiro smiled, and for a moment he looked so much like he had before Kerberos that Keith’s heart clenched. But then it faltered, an ache settling into his eyes and Keith would have done anything to go back, back before Kerberos, to stop this all from happening, to keep the pain from Shiro’s eyes. 

“I tried watching the stars, when I could.” Shiro tightened his hand around Keith’s, grounding them both. “But they were all different. I didn’t know where I was. I didn’t know where _you_ were.” 

“It’s ok,” Keith said because, really, what else was there? They both knew he was lying, anyway. They both knew _ok_ was a long, long way away. 

“I held on to something for you,” Keith said. 

Shiro looked over at him, brow furrowed in confusion. Keith knew his memory wasn’t all there, knew there were things that Shiro still didn’t have back. But the way he relaxed around him, the way he held onto his hand so easily, Keith was sure he’d remembered _them,_ even if he didn’t remember the promise he’d made before he left. 

“What?”

Keith leaned in, slowly, giving Shiro time to pull back. He watched Shiro’s eyes, heart jumping when a flicker, spark, blaze of recognition lit in them. 

He watched Shiro’s expressions change, slowly, then quickly. First confusion. Then surprise. He settled into a smile, soft and gentle, eyes crinkling with it. And then their lips met. 

They were a long way from _ok._ The _universe_ was a long way from _ok._ But right here, right now, hands clasped together and lips warm against each other, Keith knew they would get there.

**Author's Note:**

> I tried for cute and fluffy. Please let me know what you think of it! I'm actually pretty proud of how this turned out.


End file.
